You Need ‘Your People’

When I was a development director, there were times that I felt really alone. Especially when I was struggling. I didn’t have many people I could bounce ideas off easily. And at that time, it wasn’t easy connecting with other colleagues who were dealing with many of the same issues I was.

Sometimes major gifts work can feel isolating. As a major gift officer, it can be difficult to reach out to colleagues or your boss when you are not feeling “on top of your game.”

What I do know – personally as well as professionally – is that when you become vulnerable and open up to others, they open up to you… and good things happen.

This is why Richard and I believe that, if you are working in major gifts, you need a one or a few of “your people” who you can be real with. People with whom you can discuss strategy or ideas or thoughts about how to deal with a situation you face. People you can vent with. People who will hear about your awful day.

People you can trust.

Sometimes that can come from odd places.

The other day, I was on our Major Gift Academy Facebook site. This is a site that we started for anyone taking one of our courses or has graduated from one. It’s turned into an amazing community of major gift fundraisers all around the world.

People write about strategies that have worked for them, or they seek advice – or sometimes they just vent about something.

One particular Facebook friend of MGA recently had a really tough day. Her CEO was upset that she wasn’t bringing in new major donors. She told us that she tried to argue what she had learned through her courses at MGA – that there were plenty of current donors who had high attrition rates who needed attention. The CEO wasn’t hearing it, and he made her feel incredibly small. She made a decision that she needed to find another organization that values donors.

But what was most incredible was the outpouring of support from people all over the world who lifted her up and affirmed the decision she was making. People wrote to encourage her, to empathize with her, to share similar stories… all in an effort to legitimize her conviction on how major gifts should be done right.

On that Facebook page, she was no longer alone in her decision.
You need that kind of support. You have a tough job. This is why you need others around you… people whom you can trust, be real with and be challenged by to help you do your work. If you don’t have that in your life, Richard and I encourage you to find one person or a small group of folks that will be there for you.

Even if you can find them in unfamiliar places.

Jeff